First Universalist Church of West Chesterfield
Your Community Church
Welcome
Welcome to the community of the First Universalist Church of West Chesterfield. Devoted to community growth and compassion through faith, togetherness, and spirituality.
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Weddings
Our church performs weddings for anyone who wishes to form their own special service with the wording and structure that is most meaningful to them.
Services
Due to COVID-19 our church will be closed indefinitely. Please stay posted and check our Facebook page for updates and our plan to reopen.
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Any additional services, announcements or events will be posted on our Facebook page.
Closed Until Further Notice Due to Covid-19
The First Universalist Church of West Chesterfield remains closed until further notice
due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Dear Church Members and Friends,
The autumn season is only days away and we wish we were greeting everyone
again in person on Sunday mornings at our "Little Country Church" at 10 Main
Street in West Chesterfield. Alas, this season is different and First Universalist
Church remains closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our building is closed from an abundance of caution. The Centers for Disease
Control, the State of New Hampshire, the Unitarian Universalist Association, and
Church Mutual, our congregation's insurance company, have all provided
warnings, protocols, and suggestions on how to deal with the effects and
potentialities of this pandemic. By now all of us must be familiar with many of
these.
In brief, the minimum requirements for our congregation to stay safe would be burdensome to say the least in areas such as cleaning the building and furniture, sanitary considerations, social distancing, minimization of service components (for example no hymnals to be used, no singing, no paper used), no refreshments, maintaining contact information for all attendees, and liability considerations in case someone becomes infected. All of these are being considered in maintaining this closing decision.
We would like to arrange a teleconference service (not using the internet) this fall which folks could listen to from home, or wherever they may be, using their own phones. A friend of the church is looking into the technicalities of making this happen. More information will follow if we find we can indeed schedule this kind of service.
In the meantime, good wishes to all! Please stay safe and healthy!
On behalf of your Board of Trustees and church officers,
Douglas Parkhurst, Clerk-Treasurer
Farewell to an Annual Tradition... For Now
Since our historic church building was built in 1830 it has served the community as an open and accepting community space and worship environment. We have shared our space with many denominations and welcomed those from all faiths, cultures and walks of life. Many families in our community have celebrated christenings, weddings, holiday services and celebrations of life at our little church on the hill. We have grown in numbers, shrunk and grown again through our nearly 200 years as an incorporated faith community. Now we find ourselves in a time of declining numbers.
Those who have kept our spirit of open faith and community alive and well are aging and our once bustling youth group has moved on to various secondary schools and beyond. The annual Christmas Candlelight Service has long been a place where many of our youth returns to share stories of all the great things that they have learned and experienced in the world. It is a time when we take great pride in our children and the community that supported them, and their families, on the long road to adulthood.
This year our little church on the hill will be unable to hold the annual Christmas Candlelight Service and community Luminaria that has become such a pivotal tradition for us. We will now end our Fall program in mid November and plan to reopen on Easter Sunday for our spring season. We have great hopes that this will be a temporary change in our annual schedule and that we will bounce back in membership and attendance enough to support our continued work and relationship in the community.
As always, the community is welcomed and
encouraged to join us at our
10am Sunday services.
Fellowship coffee to follow.
Our Mission
To encourage our fellow humans to honor the presence of the divine in their lives and to further their spiritual growth; and in the belief that there is strength in coming together to worship, to learn, and to work that we cannot find alone.
Our Covenants:
...to provide a place and opportunities for truth seeking
through worship, classes, and study and discussion
groups...
...to provide a supportive and nonjudgmental
atmosphere where all can learn and grow together...
...and to remain aware of our place in the community as
a whole and endeavor to work for the good of the
community.